Mission Hills disqualified from API results

SAN MARCOS —— Mission Hills High School, which opened its doors
to students in August 2004, has been disqualified from obtaining a
state academic performance rating after an internal investigation
found that students had been coached on the science portion of the
aptitude test by a teacher.

The teacher, who school officials said coached 30 to 60 students
about test content last spring, resigned in June, Principal Brad
Lichtman said Monday. He said the teacher's name is not being
released because his resignation was part of a personnel
matter.

The testing process came under scrutiny during the summer after
a "report" was filed with the school district that raised concerns
about a testing irregularity on the science portion of the state
Standardized Testing and Reporting test in April, Kevin Holt,
assistant superintendent of human resources for San Marcos Unified
School District, said Monday.

An ensuing investigation in June found that the teacher was
coaching 30 to 60 students outside the testing period about what
possible questions would appear on the test, said Holt.

The same month the teacher decided to resign, said Lichtman, who
described the teacher as "honest and remorseful."

The investigation results were turned over to state officials
who reviewed them during the months of July and August.

As a result of the findings, school officials were told in
September that Mission Hills was disqualified from obtaining an API
score, which measures the academic performance and growth of the
school for the 2005 academic year.

"It's a harsh penalty," said Lichtman. "It's unfortunate that a
new school will not have an API score, it's a shame."

The API score would have been the first official academic
baseline for the school, and plays a critical role in the state's
measurement of a school's progress. The API score includes a base
and growth number that helps parents, administrators and the state
accurately assess the performance levels of all subject tests, said
Robert Bernstein, administrator of the academic accountability unit
for the California Department of Education.

"It's something the public always wants to know," said
Bernstein. "When there is no valid number, it's an embarrasment for
the school."

Bernstein said that the lack of an API score could jeopardize
the school's ability to meet federal performance standards called
for in the Adequate Yearly Progress report, which is part of the
federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Lichtman said parents were told about the disqualification at an
education summit last week.

He said he believes the incident is a "small irregularity" which
did not affect the school's overall performance or ability to
collect data on its levels of performance.

Even though the school does not have an official API score for
2005, Lichtman said the school has created a projected API score of
690 to use as a benchmark for the following school year. The score
was based on the data that the school collected from the spring
testing. The number compares to San Marcos High School, which had
an API number of 677 for 2005.

Schools strive to attain an API score of 800, which is
considered overall excellent academic achievement.

"It was a clear irregularity," Lichtman said of the testing
incident. "But we will move on."